Fried fish with corn sauce is a common dish in Cantonese restaurants. At the inexpensive places, you’ll get fried frozen fillets with a cloying, too-thick creamed corn sauce straight out of a can.

Steamed fish is the first dish I learned how to cook. My mother showed me how to season the fish, determine how long to steam it and how to sizzle the aromatics with hot oil. Steamed fish is a ...